LA man pleads guilty to defrauding Medicare $13.6M

LOS ANGELES 
A man pleaded guilty Wednesday to creating fraudulent medical clinics and stealing the identities of doctors to defraud Medicare of up to $13.6 million.

Sherman Oaks resident Eduard Aslanyan, 37, admitted to establishing a series of fraudulent Los Angeles-area clinics to scam the federal medical health insurance provider between March 2007 and September 2008, according to a statement from the Department of Justice on Wednesday.

Aslanyan's complex scheme involved recruiting doctors to sign off on being medical directors for the fraudulent clinics and then recruiting Medicare beneficiaries whose billing information was used for expensive and medically-unnecessary wheelchairs and diagnostic tests, according to the statement.

Justice officials didn't outline all the ways in which Aslanyan benefited from the scheme, but said one way he profited from was by allowing fraudulent diagnostic testing facilities to use Medicare billing information from his patient recruiters to submit fake claims for tests. The testing facilities would then give Aslanyan cash kickbacks disguised as rent payments.

Aslanyan is slated to be sentenced Oct. 17. He faces a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine.

He is currently serving a three-year state sentence for assault.

The case is was brought by the federal Medicare Fraud Strike Force, which has charged 1,000 defendants in nine districts since March 2007 - the defendants collectively falsely billed Medicare for more than $2.3 billion.